Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Line em' up

In taking a few months off in blogging, I was somewhat surprised at a couple of atheist comments that I received. One of the comments made the point that my apologetics were no different than rehashed Josh McDowell arguments. Evidently, this person does not think highly of McDowell. The other comment referred to Master's in Christian Apologetics as a mail-in degree. I wish he could of helped me with this mail-in degree financially. Both comments were deleted because I refuse to dialogue with ad hominem attacks. Name calling is easy, but it proves absolutely nothing.

How do individuals get past the extreme differences they have? Can differences be overcome? As already mentioned, in order to have meaningful dialogue the first thing that cannot take place is name calling or ad hominem attacks. Nothing does more to close the debate door than to rely on name calling. This form of speech is arrogant and in no way opens individuals up to any ideas you may want to put forth.

One way to dialogue is to try and be as open-minded as possible. Being open-minded is difficult, but not impossible. Sure, all individuals come with preconceived ideas, but trying to see and understand your opponents point before dialoguing with them is a good way to start. Practice empathetic consideration. Take time to chew on others ideas that are different from your own. Again, all individuals do not have a monopoly of being absolutely indifferent when it comes to worldview questions, but openness can be achieved to a high degree.

One of the worst arguments that I have heard from Christians is: "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it!" This settles nothing except closing conversation for someone's worldview that doesn't believe in God. On the flip side, many atheist thinkers, like the ones I mentioned earlier, do a disservice to dialogue by simply name calling and assuming that their view does not need to be debated. In other words, some atheist thinkers seem to think that have a cornered the market of truth. Some even refer to themselves as "Free Thinkers" as if theism is relegated to the community of "Closed Thinkers." Part of open-mindedness involves humility in knowing that you are coming from a position of certain held presuppositions. Being unable to truly consider the others argument does nothing to help dialogue out.

Perhaps the best method of dialogue is to argue solely based on the specific points of difference you have with your opponent. It is good and necessary to present your arguments for others to view. Likewise, it is meaningful for discussion and ultimately to discover truth to argue your differences with your opponent based on specific points of difference that you have. You may not solve the point at hand, but at least dialogue is free and you can line up your points to try and sway individuals toward truth. Ultimately, truth is what any argument is based upon (or it should be). When individuals argue, they are trying to sway individuals to what they believe is true. In other words, when you line up your points, do they have more weight than your opponents? Which argument(s) tip the scale of truth?

Many of the arguments need to address specific points with cumulative evidence, because it is impossible to have 100% proof. For example, the question of the existence of God cannot be proved with 100% certainty from either camp (Christian or Atheist). A cumulative way of argumentation is helpful in providing evidence that can lead to an inference of best explanation.

The best way to dialogue/argue is simply to line em' up. Put your cards on the table and make your points. When addressing your opponent, point out why he/she is incorrect. Be willing to think outside of your own worldview box and follow the evidence wherever it goes. This type of dialogue brings true enlightenment to the big questions of life. By the way, if my arguments are just rehashed Josh McDowell comments, does that mean my arguments were wrong? Actually, I take that comment not as an ad hominem attack, but as a complement. Thank you my atheist friend!

4 comments:

Great blog! I stumbled upon it via the Poached Egg site. I think a lot of Christians - me included - struggle with defending our faith in reasonable conversation.

The first question I have is what do you base a discussion on if the other participant(s) discount the validity of the Bible right out of the gate? I've had several dialogs with friends and co-workers who have tried to take the Bible off the table and in effect said, "All your proof is based on the Bible; well, I don't believe the Bible is the Word of God so you can't use it to sustain your point."

Thanks X, I would say to start where they feel comfortable. We don't need to start from the Bible. Paul in Acts 17 didn't refer to Scripture one time while conversing with the Stoic and Epicurian philosophers. Using Spcripure would have been confusing and stopped any meaningful dialogue. Paul quoted two poets, so I say start where they are at and ask lots of questions. :-)

Hello,
Welcome to my blog. I enjoy writing about the Lord and knowing Him better. I also enjoy discussions of apologetics (defending the Christian worldview). I hope these posts resonate with your heart and cause you to think concerning the only true God in existence.

Certified Apologetics Instructor

I am certified as an apologetics instructorthrough the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. I am part of the Northwest Convention and am available to talk to church classes or interested groups on a variety of apologetic topics. Below is a current list of the talks that I can present. I also can speak on any apologetic subject that is not on the list if you would like to have me present.

Current talks available:

1. Apologetics: Help Wanted (general discussion on apologetics and the need for apologetics in the Church today).

2. Can We Trust The New Testament?

3. Where Do Moral Values Come From?

4. Darwin, Knowledge and Truth

5. Did Jesus Rise?

6. Cosmological Fine-Tuning (an argument for God from Design)

7. Irreducible Complexity (an argument for design and against Darwin's view of evolution)

8. Would An All-loving God Condemn Anyone To Hell?

9. Religious Pluralism: Do All Roads Lead To God?

10. The Problem Of Evil

11. Where Does God Come From?

12. Is Abortion The Taking Of Innocent Life?

13. Chopping The Cultural Forest With An Acts 17 (How to engage culture that is skeptical of Christianity)

14. Latter - Day Dialogue (How to dialogue and engage the Mormon missionary)